The Annual Technical Conference sponsored by the Society of Plastics Engineers, is celebrating its 60^th year in San Francisco, May 5-9, 2002.  ANTEC, which draws 4,000-5,000 global participants annually, is the premier technical event for the plastics industry.  One of the highlights of the five-day event is the Fundamental Forum.
Of the numerous innovations and inventions that are discovered every year, only some become commercially successful and even fewer become the great successes that are the goals of most efforts.  This Forum focuses on important representative examples of this process so that we might better understand and learn from these experiences.

Tuesday, May 7
What Makes Innovation Successful? New Products
Moderators: Chi-Kai Shih and Stuart Kurtz

• The Incredible World of Polymers: Tales of Innovation,
  
• Kevlar: From Invention to Commercialization
  
• Innovations of Thermoplastic Elastomers-The Santoprene Innovations in Selected Commercially Significant Polymer Blends and Blending Process
  

• Commercialization of Gas-Assist Injection Molding or "The Gas Wars." Lessons-Learned
  
• Innovation in Extrusion
  
• Thermoforming; From Baby Rattles to Bed Springs and Beyond
  
• Overview on Ultrasonic Welding - Principles and Applications